Nodding his head, he looked up smiling. “I’m down.”

This was his in.

But was he ready for it?

Or better yet, was he ready for what could happen afterward?

Eh, he’d worry about that later. He had to beat Brie first.

“So what you’re saying is you don’t want me to come stay the night?”

Brie sat in the makeup chair as Rodney looked back at her through FaceTime. He had a grin on his face, and she could hear Mitch in the background. Rodney looked good. His color was back, his grin was unstoppable, and she was pretty sure that was because he was out of the hospital and back home. “No, I’m okay. Mitch is staying the night, and Trish is staying too. I’m good.”

“But I’ll miss you.”

“Well, I’ll miss you too. But don’t you want to be alone? You’ve been sleeping at the hospital for the past week and then with me the last two days.”

She smiled sheepishly as she shrugged. She wished she could say she was staying to keep an eye on her brother, but that was a lie. She’d been avoiding that douche canoe Vaughn like the asshole he was. She was still so… She couldn’t even say she was just mad; he’d hurt her. A little more than she expected and she hated that. She didn’t even understand. She liked the guy, found him delectable. But somewhere along the line over the three times they’d—God, it killed her to say it—fucked, she felt something. Something more. Something she thought would be amazing, but he put the brakes on that fast. With no damn notice. And it fucking hurt.

She hadn’t cried over a guy except Rodney in a long time, but she spent a few nights in the shower crying over Vaughn Johansson. It was no one’s fault but her own. She knew who he was. She knew it in her bones, but she got distracted and wrapped up in this other guy she thought he was. And boom! Just like that, she was a mess. Had she mentioned that life was hard?

“Yeah, I guess sleeping in my own bed would be nice.”

Though, it bothered her that Vaughn would be across the hall. Probably fucking someone else. Man, she hated how much he’d come to mean to her. She didn’t even know the dude, but she missed him. She missed him so fucking much.

“Cool. Oh, Vaughn came and visited me today!”

Brie paused, her heart jumping up in her throat. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, he came, and we hung out for hours. We played video games, and he bought me some gross healthy stuff from some smoothie shop. He said it was heart-healthy, and he wanted my ticker to stay ticking. He said he was sorry he wasn’t here when I came home, but he snuck me some extra cookies to make up for it. He asked about you.”

Her breath caught. “He did?”

“Yeah, he wondered where you were, and I said doing work stuff.”

“Oh. That’s nice he finally came.”

“Yeah, I missed him.”

“I know.” She had been a little butthurt that he hadn’t been there when Rodney came home, especially when Rod had asked for him. But then she was thankful. She didn’t want it to be awkward for Rodney, and she also couldn’t control her temper with Vaughn. She needed the distance, and she thought maybe he was giving it to her. Or maybe he didn’t care about anyone but himself. That seemed more like him. But then she heard shit like this, and it all went to hell.

“He said when I’m better that I can go to a game with everyone. He has a box. I’m sure you can come.”

She smiled. “Rod, I’ll already be there, but I’ll make sure to come visit you.”

“Cool. I’m excited. There is some prom coming up. I think I’m gonna ask Phyllis to come with me.”

“Prom? And ooh, does Rodney have a crush?”

“She’s nice and, yeah, the Assassins are throwing it.”

“Oh, cool. That sounds like a blast.”

“It will be. So, yeah, let me let you go. I want to play.”

“Sure, please be careful. Okay?”

He nodded hard, his face bright and happy. She loved seeing him like that. “Yeah, I know. I’m taking it easy. Plus, Grandma keeps coming in here and hollering at me if I move.”

“I think I love that woman.”

Rodney made a face. “She’s like you.”

“I know.”

He blew her a kiss. “I love you, B.”

“I love you too.”

They waved to each other, and she hung up. For the first time in a week, she smiled. Really smiled. Rodney was good. Solid. She had that fucker to thank for it, but she would never ever tell him that. Hell, she’d never talk to him another day in her life if she could get away with it.

“Hey, Brie, here is the list for interviews tonight.”

Taking the list from Travis, she looked at it and instantly wanted to throw it. “Really? Johansson?”

“Yeah, they want you guys to discuss something. I don’t know.”

“Discuss what?”

“The game you two will be playing.”

Her head whipped to where her director, Russell, was standing, and the lipstick that was being applied went across her face, much the makeup artist’s dismay. But Brie didn’t care. “What game?”

“Elli Adler wants a little on-ice competition between you two. Just read the teleprompter. Great battle makeup, by the way.”

He went to turn and walk away, but Brie followed him. “What the hell do you mean? I didn’t agree to this.”

“So? Elli wants it.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to play hockey with that asshole.”

“Well, I mean, it’s your job. You don’t want to piss off the owner of the team you report for, do you?”

Her jaw dropped. “That is so messed up. What if I have an injury? I broke my foot.”

Russell gave her a dull look. “Brie. Come on, it will be fun and easy. He’ll probably let you win.”

She laughed. Loudly. “That dude has an ego of an elephant. He won’t let me win, nor do I need him to.”

“Then you’re good.”

With that, he walked away, leaving Brie bursting with fury. She didn’t want to play hockey with that…that asshole! “Damn it!”

Stomping back to her chair as the warm-up music started, she shook her head as the makeup girl began to clean up her face. “I’m sorry.”